speech to cobra? or for that matter cobra ki? has he received money from the lollipop kids? >> stephen colbert, of course, he was joking, but the senate republicans are not. good morning, everybody. i'm brian shackman. this, of course, is "way too early" on this friday, february the 22nd. we have a wide range of things to deal with today, including a surprising new study on mass shootings that may just change the way people think about owning guns for protection. a little bit later, we'll lighten it up a little bit. the biggest night in show biz. we'll do our best to predict the winners and losers of this weekend's oscars. lewis and i will go head to head on those picks and we can check them again on monday. first, we get to the news here live at 5:30 a.m. eastern time at 30 rock in new york city. winter storms absolutely barrelled from the west coast into the heartland of the u.s. dumping a huge amount of snow in

kansas. wichita, 14 inches. that's the most they've seen in more than 50 years. inches piling up in omaha and st. louis. 1,000 plows are working in kansas alone, but it's doing little to keep drivers from being stranded. actually, you saw a plow itself getting toppled over. even the plows are having trouble staying on top of things. hundreds of flights have been scrubbed. bill karins will have more for us a little later in weather. right now, we want to turn to politics. we're now just one week from the automatic cuts that will slash $85 billion from government spending. the congressional budget office estimates the sequester will cost 750,000 jobs and lower economic growth by 0.6%. don't forget we were negative in gdp in the last quarter. it could mean longer lines at the airport, less funding for teachers, and cuts at the pentagon that officials say could hurt national security. still, the white house and republicans remained lock in a

stalemate over how to deal with the sequester. yesterday, president obama called john boehner and mitchell mcconnell, but neither republican leader has any appetite for new taxes, something the president says should be part of the deal. the president spoke with reverend al sharpton yesterday. >> my sense is that their basic view is that nothing is important enough to raise taxes on wealthy individuals or corporations, and they would prefer to see these kinds of cuts that could slow down our recovery over closing tax loophol loopholes. and that's the thing that binds their party together at this point. this is a major argument, obviously, we've been having for the last three years. unfortunately, i think republicans right now have been so dug in on this notion of never raising taxes that it becomes difficult for them to

see an obvious answer right in front of them. >> of course, you have to take the battle to twitter. the showdown continued online with white house press secretary jay carney mixing it up with congress boehner's spokesman. he tweeted, quote, was it balanced when the president got $600 billion in revenue with no spending cuts just last month? carney replied by citing a "usa today" poll with "americans support potus' balanced approach to deficit reduction. #outoftouch. well, the math is getting better for chuck hagel to be confirmed as defense secretary perhaps as early as next week. in a letter, though, 15 republican senators urged for hagel to withdraw his nomination. on that list included marco rubio and ted cruz. it reads in part, while we respect senator hagel's

honorable military service, we respectfully request you withdraw his nomination. it would be unprecedented for a secretary of defense to take office without the broad base of bipartisan support and confidence needed to serve effectively in this critical position. ted cruz added, quote, in the last 50 years, no other secretary of defense has been confirmed with more than three members voting against him, and in the entire history of the position, no one has been confirmed with more than 11 no votes, end quote. still, hagel got support from former senator bob dole, who called him an exceptional leader, and senator richard shelby of alabama. it was kind of an underwhelming vote of confidence. shelby said, quote, he's probably as good as we're going to get, end quote. the senate returns from recess next week. there are some new numbers out this morning that could impact the debate over gun violence in america. an analysis by "usa today" shows

most people who died in a mass shooting were killed by someone they knew. of the more than 900 people killed in those types of attacks over the past seven years, 40% involved a family member. that's according to a breakdown of fbi records. now, yesterday vice president joe biden was just a few miles from the site of the sandy hook shooting in newtown, connecticut, where he ramped up the pressure on congress. >> people say and you read and people write about the political risk and why they're unacceptable to take on. i say it's unacceptable not to take these on. it's just simply unacceptable. it is not something we can fail to do. if you're concerned about your political survival, you should be concerned about the survival of our children. guess what? i believe the price to be paid politically to those who refuse to act, who refuse to step

forward. because america's changed on this issue. we now turn to the devastating attacks in syria that could stall efforts to make peace in the war-torn country. at least three car bombs exploded in the capital city of damascus yesterday, killing a reported 72 people and wounding hundreds more. the deadliest was detonated near the headquarters of president bashar al assad's ruling party and the russian embassy. so far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks. rebel forces have made increasing efforts to break assad's stronghold in damascus, which beforehand has been pretty much unscathed by the ongoing civil war. also overseas, in just about two hours, we should find out whether olympic runner oscar pistorius will be let out of jail on bail as he awaits his trial for allegedly murdering his girlfriend. the prosecution has argued that pistorius killed reeva steenkamp in cold blood, saying his narrative of self-defense does not pass muster. the lead investigator was

replaced on the case yesterday. he had been a star witness for the prosecution but was suddenly charged with attempted murder for his role in firing at a mini bus back in 2011. as far as the pistorius investigation go, he admits to botching aspects of the case from possibly contaminating the crime scene, to failing to recover one of the bullets at the scene. pistorius' coach says if the blade runner is released on b l bail, he will return immediately to his training. now to some business news. after 38 days, boeing finally believes it has a solution to the issue that caused several batteries in the company's 787 dreamliner jets to overheat and in some instances catch fire. a team of executives will meet with the faa today to present their proposal, hoping to get the jets back in the skies within two months. for more on the story, let's go to my colleague at cnbc, steve

sedgwick live in london. >> they're going to meet the administrator over at the faa. the solution could be increasing the space between these lithium ion cell batteries. we haven't got any confirmation that's part of the solution. as you say, hopefully they would be back in the air by april if they convince the faa and the transportation secretary that this is going to solve the concern about these combustible batteries, so to speak. it's cost them a lot of money. for instance, they've already had to pay money for lost revenues. it's cost them $200 million a month in lost revenue from sales of dreamliners. it's a huge problem. hopefully they have a solution. >> listen, let's talk about stuff that's more fun for people as they're getting up here. tech news. google getting into the touchscreen computer business. apple, i mean, reading about

what this new product might be actually gets me excited about wearing something on my wrist for a change. >> yeah, brian, i can see it's all very buck rogers, having a computer that's a bracelet, that's a watch. it is very exciting. according to various sources, a patent application has been published for an advanced wearable computer in the form of a bracelet that could double as a watch. i think that's you all over. google, in the meantime, have unveiled the pixel, costing $1299 for a wi-fi version only. it's touchscreen as well. it's very interesting when you look at those two stories and compare what hewlett-packard is doing. okay numbers, but people are giving up on the pc market and perhaps going for the bracelets. >> i'm just waiting for the star trek power so i can get beamed to london at 5:00 p.m. and have a pint with you. have a great weekend, steve. as always, we want to know why you're awake. we know why we're awake, because we have to work.

e-mail us at waytooearly@msnbc.com. we'll read the best response as always. it's a friday, so let's bring it, folks. still ahead, an historic defeat on the links for tiger woods and rory mcilroy. we'll explain what happened to the two best governors during the pga championship. and lewis and i, you want to rely on us, for picks for the weekend's academy awards. that and a check on weather when "way too early" comes right back. [ man ] visa prepaid opened a new world for me.

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a live look at hour nation's capital on this friday. 5:44 exactly in the eastern time zone. pretty placid scene there. not the case in other parts of the country. i always study my weather before i have to interact with bill karins. we have a storm splitting in two, right? is that what's happening? >> one storm weakens, another one forms. yeah, kind of splits. a little piece of energy jumps off it. we can sit down for an hour and -- >> no, no. that's okay, bill. you can have your 90 seconds. >> i'll put you to sleep in about five minutes. good morning, everyone. we are watching this big, epic storm in the midwest weakening, but it's still having an impact. chicago got a couple inches. we're also dealing with icy weather. freezing rain in ohio and indiana. even areas of north carolina are getting freezing rain and

mixture of snow in the higher terrain. the worst of it by far, wisconsin, minnesota, and areas of michigan. this area of white is all snow coming down. looks like shortly it's going to move through even detroit. we're not expecting a lot more accumulations. later today it's going to rain heavy down in the south. even tomorrow, too, that rain is going to come up the coast. this is what brian was talking about. this is the next storm that's going to come up the east coast and eventually you'll get into the cold air in new england. i've been mentioning all week long, looked like we were going to have this snowstorm in new england. we're going to be saved in southern new england because of warmer temperatures, more rain than snow. so areas like new york city and new haven, no major problems. the heaviest snows north of boston. 495 northwards. mass pike northwards. here's what i'm thinking snowfall amounts. manchester, probably the highest, best chance of getting near a foot. especially higher elevations. this will be a heavy, wet snow. boston, 3 to 6. alba albany, 3 to 6.

we can deal with this compared to the last couple storms. bottom line, a lot of areas dealing with wintry weather. be careful out there. midwest through the ohio valley. >> looks like you're getting snowed in, barnacle. >> he blinks at this. they start playing baseball games this weekend. >> he waused to walk to work backwards up a hill in driving snow. back in the day. all right, thanks, bill. let's go into sports with tiger woods and rory mcilroy combining to make the wrong kind of history at the match play championships in arizona. tiger, the number two player in the world, dropped his first round match to charles howell iii, who hadn't qualified for match play in this tournament in five years. tiger conceded the match on the 17th hole. rory mcilroy, the top golfer on the planet, defeated by shane lowery of ireland, who was seeded dead last in the tournament. this is just the second time in the history of the match play championships that the two top

seeds have been ousted in the first round. looks like that round with the president didn't help tiger very much. now to the nba. heat facing the bulls in chicago. the miami heat trying to push their winning streak to nine games. first quarter, lebron steps in front of the pass, takes it up the floor, beats the defense for the hoop for the finish. he had a double-double, couple assists shy of a triple-double. go to the fourth quarter. the heat up big. lebron finds wade for the reverse layup. the heat went 86-67. their nine-game win streak, the longest of the season. derek rose can't come back fast enough. to college hoops with california playing their first game since head coach mike montgomery shoved his star shooting guard in the chest. tied in the final seconds of regulation. justin cobb throws up the jumper and gets it for the win. cal upsets number 23 oregon 48-46. cal has won six of their last seven games. kind of a bubble team.

this should help them maybe get into the tournament. finally, an unbelievable trick shot. check this out. comes to us from william carey university in hattiesburg, mississippi. watch this. cheerleader ashley goes for the front flip and half court shot. how awesome is that? you can't change that on youtube. the ball is in the frame the entire time. that is not a fake. she's a 21-year-old junior. she also plays soccer and runs track for william carey. she's been trying the shot all season during halftime. she finally got it on her fifth try. that's awesome. that's the last one of the loop. now me on the camera. coming up on "morning joe," it's two steps forward, one step backward for chuck hagel's bid to run the pentagon. a new contingent of senate critics is calling for him to withdraw his nomination. the crew will weigh in on that. when we come back, we'll huddle around the water cooler.

lewis, back from la-la land. we'll see what he learned in tinsel town as we break down the oscar gold when "way too early" comes right back.

all right. time to hit the water cooler. you're not going to big time me since you took a private jet to l.a. >> no, no, i didn't go private jet. i figured i had to go out there.

get on the ground, see what people are talking about. take just a little look here at some of the stuff i shot while i was out there. >> is in and out better than five guys? >> it's the best. the day they bring it to the east coast is the day i'm an extremely happy man. you see here i am, going to screen the films. i watched every film consecutively. so it's a hard job, but someone's got to do it. >> nice. all within five minutes of filming. >> so why don't we take a look at some of the nominees, as they say on stage. go ahead, roll the clip. the oscars, the glitz and glamour of hollywood on display for all to see, featuring the entertainment industry's biggest names all sharing a single stage to honor a year in achievement. it's a ceremony known to create a few memorable moments of its own from the holly berry kiss.

those feel-good moments from the "goodwill hunting" boys from boston. this year's also sure to make history as hollywood celebrates its best year ever, pulling in more than $10.8 billion at the box offices. >> bond, james bond. >> the bell of the ball is without a doubt "silver linings playbook." bradley cooper picked up nods from the academy, his first nomination. >> this is a guy with a lot of dimension and soul who hasn't put it on screen yet. >> you stumble upon certain things in your life you never expect. for me, this was one from the beginning when i first played this character. >> it's set up for a big night, becoming the first film in 31 years to grab nominations in all foracting categories, joining the likes of "a streetcar named desire," and "network." >> i'm as mad as hell, and i'm not going to take this anymore.

>> "lincoln" is poised to take home several awards, leading all films with 12 nominations. stephen spielberg is looking to take home his 12th golden award. >> i always really wanted to do something on lincoln. >> daniel day lewis is on in pursuit of his third oscar. >> i like our chances now. >> jessica chastain picked up her second nomination for "zero dark thirty." but it's quvenzhane wallace, who's ready to steal the night away from her fellow nominees. >> who the man? >> i'm the man! >> all eyes will be on ben affleck sundays night who was snubbed by theed academy for directing "argo." it's the odds on favorite to beat the field for best picture, which could make for a true

hollywood ending. >> i thought, if i can even execute in a basic way on this, this would be the best thing i've ever done by far. >> now, brian, i know you moonlight as a film critic. i'd like to hear what your choices are. so for best actress in a leading role, your pick? i heard you like jennifer lau lawrence. >> i think it's 50/50 between her and jessica chastain. >> i like quvenzhane wallace. >> really? >> 9 years old. she did an amazing job. "beasts of the southern wild" is an amazing film. let's go to the men. best actor in a leading role? >> this is kind of -- i feel bad for bradley cooper, a friend of the show, did an amazing job. bottom line, daniel day lewis is the best actor on the planet. he brought to life an icon. >> i agree. i love danield day-lewis. let's go on to picture of the year. >> listen, ben affleck, in some ways, we're the same.

i can't stand him because he's achieving much more than i am. i feel a lot of self-pity in that sense. i think he's going to win. he got snubbed for best director. you go from "gone, baby, gone" to "the town." he's growing up before our eyes. >> "silver linings playbook" i thought was the most complete film of the year. an amazing triumph. that's my choice. i don't want to miss the next story, so we're going to move on here. regardless of who wins or loses, the losers aren't going to go home empty handed. this marketing firm is giving away all the non-winners oscars swag bags. they're valued at more than $45,000. there are free trips to australia, hawaii, and mexico. >> all three? >> all three. and bottles of tequila and condoms will be in the bag. there are also natural choices like acupuncture. it also includes ways to look better, personal training sessions, weight loss retreats, appointments for injectable

fillers. i don't know what that is. and a portion-controlled dinner. >> go to mexico with the tequila. i'm not even going to make the condom comment. >> listen, you're going to let me do the tease. i appreciate that. bill never lets me do. that. still ahead on "way too early," why are you awake? your award-winning tweets, texts, and e-mails are next. ♪ just one bite opens a world of delight... ♪ a flavor paradise of delicious fishes ♪ ♪ friskies seafood sensations. ♪ ♪ feed the senses.

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